This will hopefully be the final in a laundry list of opponent changes for Mendes (13-1). He was originally scheduled to fight Manny Gamburyan at UFC 157. When Gamburyan withdrew due to injury, Mendes was then moved to the UFC on Fox 7 card to face Clay Guida. Like Gamburyan, Guida succumbed to an injury, pulling out of that fight.

Mendes will remain on the UFC on Fox 7 fight card, trying to claw his way back into title contention by stepping into the Octagon opposite Elkins.

Elkins (11-2) was doing well as a lightweight, but has a spotless record since making the drop to 145 pounds.

He is currently on a five-fight winning streak at featherweight, fresh off of a TKO stoppage of Antonio Carvalho at this past weekend’s UFC 158: St-Pierre vs. Diaz in Montreal.

The two will likely take an open spot on the UFC on Fox 7 prelims that air on FX.